Roulette-type game apparatus

Abstract

Roulette-type game apparatus comprising a housing consisting of a base and a transparent hood, a disc for providing a plurality of game fields, a drive actuating and attenuating mechanism consisting of a rotatably mounted drive spindle, a weight slidable along this spindle and an attenuating plate, and indicators such as dice or balls freely movable within said housing between the hood and the game field.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A roulette-type game apparatus comprising: a base (11);   a signaling plate (30) rotatably mounted above said base, said plate bearing symbols (36c) on a surface thereof for determining the character of an entertainment game;   means (60) mounted on said base above said plate and having a plurality of compartments (64) for receiving indicator means (61), said compartments being adapted for association with said symbols on said plate;   enclosure means (20) joined to said base for retaining said indicator means in said game apparatus; and   drive means for producing relative rotation between said signaling plate and compartment means, said drive means comprising a drive spindle (41) mounted on said signaling plate, extending through said compartment means, and journalled in at least one of said base and enclosure means, said spindle having an upper threaded portion and a lower unthreaded portion, a non-rotating weight (46) engageable with said spindle for rotating same by movement along the threaded portion and for permitting said spindle and signaling plate to freely rotate when said weight has moved to the unthreaded portion.   
     
     
       2. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said base includes a circular base plate (12) with an upright peripheral wall (13) and centrally disposed bearing means (16) for rotatably mounting said spindle (41). 
     
     
       3. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 including means for attenuating rotary movements of said signaling plate. 
     
     
       4. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said attenuating means includes at least one magnet (15) mounted on said base and a plurality of metallic pads (32) mounted on said signaling plate and operatively associated with said magnet. 
     
     
       5. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said compartment means comprises a disc (60, 60a) made of a transparent material and including a central opening (63) through which extends drive spindle (41) without contacting said compartment means disc, said disc having a plurality of compartments (64) facing away from said base (11), said disc being adapted to be fixedly mounted on said base. 
     
     
       6. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said weight (46) is adapted to be moved along said spindle (41) within a guide sleeve (49) mounted within said enclosure means (20) on said compartment means (60, 60a). 
     
     
       7. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein one end of said drive spindle (41) is adapted to be rotatably mounted in a bearing in said guide sleeve (49). 
     
     
       8. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein a slot-shaped aperture (54) is arranged in the side-wall (49a) of said guide sleeve (49) and wherein a pin (47) connected to said weight (46) is movable along said slot-shaped aperture (54) to prevent rotation of said weight. 
     
     
       9. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said enclosure means comprises a hood (20) joined to said base to enclose said drive spindle (41) and guide sleeve (49). 
     
     
       10. A roulette-game apparatus as defined in claim 6 or 9 wherein said enclosure means is made of a transparent material. 
     
     
       11. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said guide sleeve is integrally molded with said hood (20a). 
     
     
       12. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the unthreaded portion of said drive spindle (41) exceeds the height of said weight (46). 
     
     
       13. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the threaded portion of said drive spindle (41) contains a high-pitch thread. 
     
     
       14. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said compartments (64) on said compartment means (60, 60a) are arranged in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of game symbols (36c) on said signaling plate (30). 
     
     
       15. A roulette-type game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said indicating means comprises dice, balls, or the like.